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Anyone can draw! Sure, plenty of people struggle with confidence about their creative skills, but even you can draw! This activity helps build your confidence in your abilities; you really can do anything you set your mind to. Don't give up; giving up is automatic failure and a self-fulfilling prophecy. This project is inspired by Peter Reynolds' book, Ish. This book follows Raymond; Raymond loves to draw, but one day his older brother makes fun of his drawing, which shakes Raymond's confidence. After that experience Raymond doesn't feel that his drawings look right. Right as he was about to give up for good, his sister, Marisol, takes his crumpled drawing. Initially upset, Raymond is about to yell at his sister but then realizes that Marisol has hung up all of his crumpled drawings up on her room walls. Marisol provides a new perspective for Raymond, telling him that his drawing is "vase-ish." He realizes that all of his drawings are "ish." His creativity is rekindled, his passion revitalized, and he begins to draw again. 

Plenty of people feel this way, but it doesn't have to be this way. You can draw. Don't compare yourself to anyone else--you're the only you there is. There are things only you can do.

Directions

1. Draw your "ish" art. You can start in pencil and then trace with Sharpie or just start with Sharpie. It's whatever works best for you. Your drawing can be as simple or as elaborate as you want; just remember to focus on it being "ish" rather than "perfect."

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2. Crumple your paper. 

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3. Paint your crumpled paper with water color. It's typically better to stick to 2-3 colors so it doesn't get too busy (and generally better to stay away from black/brown), but do whatever works for you. You can recrumple your paper a few times to have new surface area to paint. 

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4. After the water color dries you can iron your paper flat. Children should get adult assistance for ironing (because irons get rather hot). I use my "craft" iron (a small iron I got for $10-15 several years ago).

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5. After ironing your paper flat you're finished! It's pretty simple, and depending on how many you create at one time, it could take about 5-10 minutes total (it took me about a minute per paper to iron). 

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If you want any of the materials I used or the book Ish, check out the links below.

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